KPBS – Tijuana’s police chief said the U.S. should take responsibility for its role in Mexico’s rising violence, which he links to U.S. gun smuggling and lax gun laws. U.S. statistics show 70 percent of weapons seized at crime scenes in Mexico were traced to the U.S., particularly to the border states of California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

The Conversation – Mexico has struggled with corruption for a long, long time, but recent events indicate that the situation is now at a truly intolerable pitch. This spring, two fugitive state governors were arrested in a joint operation by Interpol and the Mexican police.

CNN – General Motors plans to bring about 600 jobs back from Mexico to a new industrial park it is building in Texas. The facility in Arlington should be ready by 2018. It will employ 1,250 people working for companies that supply parts for GM — some of whom already work in the area. About half of the workers will do work that is now done in Mexico, the company said.

Reuters – Mexican private spending rose 0.7 percent during the first quarter compared to the previous three-month period. Private spending was 3.1 percent higher than during the same period a year earlier. Aggregate demand increased 2.0 percent from the previous quarter, and was up 4.0 percent from the same quarter in 2016.

Mexican imports of U.S. soybean meal dropped 15 percent, chicken 11 percent and corn 6 percent in the first four months of 2017 amid friction between the two neighboring countries over NAFTA.

Soybean meal exports decreased for the first time in four years and chicken exports marked the biggest decline since 2003. Mexico is U.S. farmers’ largest export market for soybean meal, chicken and corn.

The decreasing figures illustrate Mexico’s move to reduce its reliance on the U.S. for commodities as President Trump looks to renegotiate NAFTA. This comes as U.S. farmers deal with low commodity prices and excess supply.

Raul Urteaga Trani, head of international affairs for Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, led a group of Mexican business leaders to South America to explore trade of soybeans, corn and wheat.

“We have to send a signal to policymakers in Washington, and emphasize that we are not sitting still,” Trani said.

CNN – If there’s one thing better than guaranteed sunshine and blue skies on your next vacation, it’s the knowledge that there will be no nasty surprises come check-out time. All-inclusive vacations mean that one price fits all, covering almost everything, save those optional extras or upgrades. Mexico and the Caribbean boast countless options to kick back and relax, so here are some of the best options when it comes to staying in style — but also on budget.

The Hill – The U.S. sugar industry has announced support for a tweaked trade deal with Mexico after initially opposing the long-awaited agreement. The American Sugar Alliance, which represents sugar farmers and producers, told the Commerce Department that it will back the “tightened” deal aimed at bringing Mexico’s sugar industry into compliance with U.S. law.

Times Record News – Texas’ largest business associations are forming a coalition to protect and foster trade opportunities between the United States and Mexico amid a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement spearheaded by the Trump administration.

Remezcla – As if FIFA and the Mexican fanbase weren’t at odds already, the Confederations Cup might be the tipping towards unadulterated animosity. Reports this week confirm that the tournament, held in Russia, will play host to a new FIFA three-step program towards shutting down homophobic and offensive chants, a category the infamous “puto” falls into for the world soccer organization.

Express – A strong 6.9 magnitude tremor struck eight kilometres southwest of Tajumulco, Guatemala. The tremor has caused five fatalities, with reports also suggesting that a further seven have been severely injured by the quake.

Bloomberg – Telepizza Group is preparing to open its first outlet in Mexico as the Spanish pizza delivery company steps up efforts to diversify its business by developing what could become its second-biggest market.

CNBC – If you think the glass ceiling for women in tech is tough in the United States, take a look at the challenges they face in Mexico, Latin America and other developing countries. For many the obstacles may seem insurmountable, but not for Blanca Trevino, the co-founder, president and CEO of Softtek, a Mexican unicorn that is the largest IT vendor in Latin America.

VOA – Mexico’s ancient civilizations cultivated crops such as maize, tomatoes and chilies for thousands of years before the Spanish conquerors arrived — and now those native plants could hold the key to sustainable food production as climate change bites, said leading ecologist José Sarukhán Kermez.

Goal – While Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez will go down as one of his country’s greats because of his success not only with the national team but also at the club level with Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Bayer Leverkusen, his legacy is not sealed. The striker has plenty of important goals among the 47 he has netted for El Tri, but Chicharito has struggled to find the net when they’ve needed him most, leaving the responsibility of scoring in big matches to other players.

In what her government has called “a sign of solidarity,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto today, Friday.

High on the agenda during her two-day state visit to Mexico will be their mutual political dilemma: President Trump.

From the launch of his presidential campaign two years ago through his early days in the White House, Trump made Mexico his punching bag. He called Mexican immigrants criminals, pledged to tax imports from Mexico and insisted that Mexico would pay for construction of a border wall.

But in recent months, he has extended his ire to a much wider circle of nations, many of which, like Mexico, are longtime U.S. allies.

That includes Germany, which the president has criticized for its trade surplus with the U.S., for resettling large numbers of Syrian migrants and for not spending enough on defense to meet its commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Europe “can no longer rely” on its longtime friend the United States, Merkel said at an election rally in Munich saying people on the continent must “take our fate into our own hands.”

Merkel appears poised to do that on her visit to Mexico, where she and Peña Nieto will discuss trade and how to move forward on combating climate change after Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

Reuters – For the last U.S.-based manufacturer of the red and white striped candy cane that is a ubiquitous North American holiday season treat, the sugar supply deal struck between Mexico and Washington is anything but sweet.

SBS – After catalysing one of the more poignant viral hashtags at the beginning of this year, Vicente Fox has returned to deliver a message to the President of the United States amid the noise surrounding James Comey’s testimony. “Mexico will not pay for the f—– wall,” Fox opens the video, shared on social channel Super Deluxe.

The Economist -I n the State of Mexico, which contains 13% of the national electorate and was once governed by President Enrique Peña Nieto, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s candidate, Delfina Gómez, gained 31% of the vote. The PRI won, with 34%, in a state it had never lost, but its vote was down by 28 percentage points compared with the last election in 2011. It clung on, according to its opponents and some analysts, only by large-scale vote-buying. López Obrador has thus reminded Mexicans that he remains a uniquely potent challenger.